Your Failure Is Not Final (Part 3)
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14
Did you know that when a car wreck happens, the insurance company sends a specialist out to assess the damage and determine whether or not the car should be totaled? They ask one question when they show up. The number one question that an insurance adjuster wants to know when a car has been in a bad accident is, what model is it? In other words, how old is it? Because if a car is so old that the parts can hardly be found, they write it off and say, "There's no need. It costs more to repair it than to get a new one. So let's just total this one." Sometimes we treat our lives that way. Suicide rates have risen dramatically in the last ten years.
So many young people will mess up in their teens and 20s and want to end their life. They don't understand. They have so much life ahead of them. You may think life is over because you lost that boyfriend that you were so in love with and “Nobody else could ever be like them.” But you won't even think of him when you're ten years down the road. He'll be an absolute nobody, and you'll look him up on Facebook and say, "Thank God I dodged a bullet. God had better for me. I’ve got a great man." Many young people are ready to end their lives over one person when there are eight billion other people on the planet. Life doesn't end when one of them walks out of your life. If you experience heartbreak you should get a smile on your face and say, "God must have something better." One failed relationship isn’t the end of the world.
Some people are in so much financial distress that they are ready to end their life. Don’t end your whole life over money. God is going to take care of you. Psalms 37:25 says, “I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.” There's a lot of life ahead of you. You're still here for a reason. Don't you give up because some bad failure or heartbreaking situation has come into your life.
If you want to know the definition of a righteous man, it is found in Proverbs 24:16. “A righteous man falls seven times a day, but rises again." Do you know that if you fall seven times a day, you're qualified to be a righteous man? But notice that He doesn't define you by how many times you fall. He defines you by how many times you get back up. God says, "That's a righteous thing when you get back up. It’s precious when you come running back to me and ask for help.”
It's righteous when you get up, learn something, and say, "I'm going to be a better person from this. I wish I wouldn't have done it and would take it back if I could, but since I can’t, I will press forward.” God does not expect perfection from His children. But He does expect us to have the determination to never give up.
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